On the final regular season game, the Celtics celebrated Fan Appreciation Day at TD Garden with nail-biting 93-86 win over the Hornets.
With the Celtics resting their top-6 for the playoffs next weekend, they started 7-9 in their presumed postseason rotation with Torrey Craig and Baylor Scheierman joining Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet in the starting five. With Neemias Queta and Jordan Walsh coming off the bench, they came out of the gates hot, finishing the first quarter with a 33-15 lead. Hauser hit 4-of-5 from behind the arc.
By halftime, Charlotte cut the lead to eleven, 54-43. Pritchard finished the first half with eighteen points (8-of-15 from the field) and five assists and 34 and 7 at the final buzzer. His performance should make the list of greatest final regular season games ever and a good tune-up before the playoffs.
The Hornets cut it down to 1 by the start of the fourth quarter, but then Payton Pritchard happened with twelve points in the final frame to close the game out.
The irony of this last result is that it’s less about a preview of the playoffs and maybe more so, a look into the extended future of the franchise.
After playing three seasons on a two-way contract, JD Davison signed a two-year deal with the big club. The G League MVP played the entire fourth and ended the year with a 9-point, career-high effort.
There’s also the back-up wings, Scheierman and Walsh, to consider. The rookie and sophomore have started to define their player-types with the team — potential playmaker/perimeter shooter and defensive 3-and-D forward respectively.
Scheierman certainly has the flare for the dramatic, but his three-point shooting (33.3% from 3) will have to near his college averages (39%) to stay on the floor. On Sunday afternoon, he made just 2-of-10 from three with four steals.
Walsh, on the other hand, was big closing out the game with a block, steal, and three-pointer in the final three minutes. He finished with ten points and eight rebounds.
The Celtics end the regular season with an impressive 61-21 record and will have a week off before Game 1 of the first round. They await the winner of Hawks-Magic in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday.
